Georges Reunion

Friends of George's are the spirits of everyone who once felt alone in the world, but then found acceptance in an unlikely place—a place where they learned to embrace individuality and to celebrate diversity. Many people in the 1970s and 1980s when there was great struggle for acceptance and equality found ...this place at a Memphis bar known as George's. It is our mission to produce events and occasions that not only reunite us to celebrate our common history, but to have a positive impact on the Memphis gay community as a whole by enlightening the younger generations to the fun we had, the hard battles we fought to be ourselves, and the camaraderie we shared then, and now. Through our fund raising efforts, we would like to give back to the Memphis Gay, Lesbian, Bi & Transgender community. In doing so, we hope to establish a higher standard of pride in the community while hosting celebrations which we as a community can be proud of for generations to come. George's began in a small storefront on Madison Ave. between McLean and Evergreen. It eventually became known as the Queen Mother Memphis Gay Bars. George Wilson first became involved with this bar at the end of 1969, the same year of the Stonewall Rebellion in New York. It and its successors became the place where many people came out and learned their first lessons in pride and self-esteem. It represented a new community—gays, lesbians, bisexual people and transgendered people (and their friends)—and George's was its community center. People were accepted into this place when they dressed strangely, identified with a gender different from their physical selves, were old or young or were just lonely and afraid. A raid on the drag performers in 1971 resulted in the dropping of charges against them. Memphis then had its counterpart to the Stonewall Inn in New York. Self esteem improved for everyone and those who wanted to perform found their Drag-Mothers and a venue for self expression. Like any family or community, it wasn't perfect. Those who still remember what George's was like feel like family and old rivalries and attitudes, though remembered, are less important. It was this early sense of community which led the founders of Friends of George's to choose the Memphis Gay and Lesbian Community Center (MGLCC) as our beneficiary. We chose MGLCC because we felt its programs target many diverse areas of the community and they encourage strong role models. The Drag-Mothers took in many homeless GLBT youth of their era and the MGLCC provides a program which addresses this problem in this era. mglcc.org.